Sheffield wedding – Be our guest!

Pippa is bubbly, always smiling and has a zest for life. She is sporty and fun and loves to dress up! We share a birthday, a love for red wine, cocktails and dancing! And I can’t actually remember when we became friends? But friends we are and life is richer for it, especially when I get to hear her rapping…yes, I said rapping. 🙂

I met Sijo back in October 2015 when we discovered we both loved photography. He told me his story of how he had left his home in Chennai, India to come to Sheffield to study. I was blown away by how he threw himself into life here, with enthusiasm and zeal. I know the difficulties of moving here firsthand but he has such an amazing attitude in spite of language and cultural differences. And just like Pippa, he smiles all the time.

So when the gorgeous couple announced their engagement I was over the moon! Two dear friends committing their lives to one another and I knew it was going to be such a colourful wedding day…I was not disappointed!

I got to be a fully fledged guest at this wedding. A rare thing indeed but something to savour and enjoy. Kate Cooper stepped in to the official photographer role and she did an amazing job! Go check out her blog if you’d like to see the official photos from this colourful wedding. The photos are stunning!

However, I couldn’t leave my camera behind. Photography isn’t just something I do, it’s definitely in my blood and even though I have struggled to find a suitable camera bag that says ‘Hi, I go beautifully with any wedding guest outfit’ I still decided to bring it along (in it’s not so glamorous white and orange bag). I didn’t go crazy and kept my photo taking to a few parts of the day.

A few of us decided to embrace the Indian half of the wedding and wear sarees and I even managed to borrow some authentic Indian jewellery from my friend. The added bonus? My not so glamorous camera bag was totally hidden under the pallu (the part of the fabric that goes over the shoulder)…woo hoo! (It’s the little things.)

Saree preparation with lots of laughter! Thankfully we had help from one of Sijo’s friends who’d come over for the wedding. Priya did an amazing job at not only doing all the bridesmaid sarees but ours as well.

Here is Priya, the expert in saree wrapping.

The just married couple dancing down the aisle. This must have been the most exuberant wedding I’ve been to!

Here’s Kate doing an amazing job of capturing all the groomsmen and Sijo.

Here I am in my saree, with red wine, of course!

They did an epic first dance which led into a night filled with Indian music, classic wedding songs and so…much…dancing. My legs ached by the end of the night.